Saturday, April 3, 2010

commerce

April 3, 2010Remember last week I was looking for a toaster… today one of the street vendors on Hastings sold me a bitchin’ toaster for $2.50. Now I too can buy 10cent loaves of bread. The cost benefit analysis works for that transaction. We have always been creatures of commerce… this is not just a white-man’s thing; the Anisazi traded with the Toltecs, the fisherman trades his fish for the farmer’s vegetables. There must have been a time and place when everything could be provided by our environment, we have all read about remote tribes or villages which were self-sustaining. But once these cultures were exposed to other cultures trading began. We become accustomed to having those things we cannot produce for ourselves. The line between need and want is blurred. Given the current economy many people are being forced to re-examine what is needed and what is simply wanted. We can no longer expect to “have it all”. Wealth and power are unattainable for the majority of us these days. The fact is… it is all we can do to survive from one month to the next.I believe it is because of that, we have begun looking inward for fulfillment, satisfaction and peace. I believe we are experiencing the rise of spiritualism, in western culture. This shift away from materialism as core our value was long ago predicted by the Shamans of Central and South America. So yes we are evolving…. but will it be too little - too late?